


Motherhood

by Pidgeapodge



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Rise of Kyoshi, The Shadow of Kyoshi
Genre: Bonding, Crying, Family, Gen, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Kyoshi needs a hug, Momma Yangchen, Motherhood, Yangchen is a sweetheart, post Shadow of Kyoshi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:55:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26618557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pidgeapodge/pseuds/Pidgeapodge
Summary: Kyoshi has found a toddler in the arms of her dead mother. Worried about taking this child in, she turns to Yangchen for help.
Relationships: Kyoshi & Yangchen (Avatar)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 25





	Motherhood

Yangchen felt that familiar tug that meant she was being summoned by the Avatar. Taking a deep breath, she left her meditations in her little corner of the Spirit World and went to greet the current Avatar.

Avatar Kyoshi sat in front of Yangchen in a lotus pose, her hands held in a circle in front of her. She was not wearing her usual _daofei_ makeup, and she appeared to be troubled.

Oh, Kyoshi. Poor, poor Kyoshi. Yangchen just wanted to hug the young woman and never let her go. She had suffered so much, and as the Avatar she had so much more placed on her shoulders.

Yangchen gave Kyoshi a gentle smile. “Hello, Kyoshi. How may I be of help to you?”

Kyoshi fidgeted. Her knee was bouncing as much as it could in a lotus pose. She shifted her weight from side to side. She pushed her thumbs against each other, slowly rotating them. Biting her lip, Kyoshi looked at the ground, not at Yangchen.

Yangchen was no stranger to seeing Kyoshi this way. Half the time she was summoned, Kyoshi had queries about her duties as the Avatar. The other half of the time, Kyoshi was scared and lost, and needed the guidance of a mother. And so, Yangchen did her best to give it to her.

Spirits, the first time Kyoshi had summoned Yangchen, she had mistaken Yangchen for her mother and then proceeded to cry her heart out while Yangchen held her. If Yangchen were still alive, she knew her heart would be twisting in sympathy. She wished she were still alive, so that _she_ could be the one correcting her mistakes, not Kyoshi and poor Kuruk.

They sat in silence for a while more. Yangchen didn’t want to pressure Kyoshi, but she could tell that Kyoshi needed some help saying what she needed.

“Kyoshi?” said Yangchen gently. “What’s wrong?”

Kyoshi looked up at Yangchen with tears in her eyes. She opened her mouth, closed it, considered, and then opened it again.

“Rangi and I found a child.”

Yangchen blinked. She knew quite well about Rangi, the Avatar’s girlfriend and firebending _sifu_. Kyoshi could hardly keep her mouth shut when it came to her firebender. It made Yangchen happy to know that Kyoshi had such a good, stable influence in her life. Someone to remind her to eat, or to go to bed, or to take a break every now and then.

She just didn’t expect whatever was bothering Kyoshi so much to have to do with… rescuing a child?

“What happened?” Yangchen asked.

Kyoshi looked away again. “Since the death of so many Earth Kingdom officials, there’s been a lot of unrest throughout the continent. Petty warlords rising up and trying to conquer land for themselves. A man from Qinchao has been trying to quell the uprisings, but there are murmurs that he’s actually been conquering land for himself.”

Yangchen nodded, signaling for Kyoshi to continue.

“In one of the villages that had been taken over by a warlord, Rangi and I found a toddler in the arms of her dead mother. We… we took her in, and I, uh…”

Kyoshi faltered. Yangchen had an inkling of what she was going to say, and an idea of why Kyoshi was reluctant to say it. Air Nomads were renowned pacifists, after all. Still, Yangchen knew that the duty of the Avatar required one to make certain sacrifices, and she certainly wasn’t here to judge Kyoshi.

“You brought the warlord to justice?” Yangchen suggested, trying to give Kyoshi an easy out.

“Um… I guess you could say that… I did go a little… overboard.” Kyoshi blushed and looked away from Yangchen.

Yangchen sighed and reached out to place a hand on Kyoshi’s shoulder. “Kyoshi, I’m here to help you. Don’t be afraid to tell me anything. What do you need?”

Kyoshi met Yangchen’s gaze, and tears threatened to spill down her face. “How do you be a mother?” Kyoshi asked.

Yangchen blinked. This was certainly a surprising development. She knew she could be somewhat of a mother hen, just ask any of her companions. She knew she tried to be as good of a mentor as she could to Kyoshi. Even if she never actually had any children herself, busy as she was being the Avatar, she was known for her exceptional ability with children all over the four nations.

She also knew Kyoshi was an orphan herself, and likely didn’t have many figures to draw from. Yangchen immediately pulled Kyoshi into a tight hug, rubbing her back in soothing circles. Kyoshi gripped Yangchen’s torso back, and began shaking in her arms.

“Oh, oh you poor child,” Yangchen cooed as Kyoshi began to cry. “I’m here, I’m here.”

Kyoshi hiccupped and sobbed into Yangchen’s shoulder. Yangchen sat still, silently rubbing Kyoshi’s back. Right now, Kyoshi needed a rock, something stable for her to hang on to as she let her emotions out.

Even if ten years had passed since that first day Kyoshi had summoned her, even if Kyoshi was nearing her thirties, Yangchen couldn’t help but see the sad, scared child who had accidentally called her forth and mistaken Yangchen as her mother.

After some minutes, Kyoshi’s sobs began to quiet. She took shuddering breaths, and gave a hiccup every now and then, but she was beginning to calm down.

Yangchen continued to rub Kyoshi’s back in slow, soothing circles.

“Whatever do you need my help for, Kyoshi? I’m sure you will make a wonderful mother to this child.”

Kyoshi gripped Yangchen’s robes tight. “I—How could I possibly—My own family—”

“Shh,” Yangchen whispered. “You are not your parents. You will not make their mistakes. You clearly care so much for this child, that you want to do everything you can to do right by her.”

“But—”

“The fact that you are concerned about this alone shows how much you want to do right. And wanting to do right is the first step towards doing it. I’m so proud of you, Kyoshi.”

“I impaled the warlord,” Kyoshi said. She pulled on Yangchen’s robes. “My first thought after giving the baby to Rangi was to murder him.”

Yangchen shook her head. “You are focusing on the wrong thing. Your first thought was to make sure the baby was safe, by giving her to Rangi. Your second thought was to punish the man who did this to her, and to prevent him from hurting anyone ever again.”

Kyoshi hugged Yangchen tighter. “But, I earthbent a pike through him—”

“Do you know the extremes so many parents would go to in order to protect their children?”

“My parents didn’t.”

Yangchen hugged Kyoshi closer. “Kyoshi, you mustn’t think about what your parents did not do. Think instead about the people who loved you. I know you have good guides. You told me of Master Kelsang, think of him if you need an example.”

Kyoshi began crying anew, thinking of her adopted father. Yangchen stroked Kyoshi’s hair, letting her feel what she needed to feel.

Once Kyoshi calmed down, Yangchen broke the hug and held Kyoshi by her shoulders.

“Kyoshi, you are an incredible, brave young woman with a heart full of love. Listen to me. You will be an amazing mother to this child. You will protect her, feed her, and most importantly, love her. As long as you act with love, you will do fine.”

“Bu—but what if I mess up?”

Yangchen stroked Kyoshi’s freckled face, wiping away the tears with the pad of her thumb. “My dear, being a mother is like being the Avatar. You will make mistakes. As long as you do your best, and try to fix them, you will do fine. Trust me.”

Kyoshi nodded, eyes still full of uncertainty.

Yangchen gave Kyoshi a gentle smile. “And like being the Avatar, you will have the help of those who came before you. I’m sure Rangi’s mother can help with the day-to-day troubles of motherhood. You have the memory of Kelsang to guide you. And, should you ever need help, I am here.”

Kyoshi sniffed and wiped her eyes. Yangchen knew she felt embarrassed.

“Kyoshi, I am here for you. I don’t care if you come with a great question about the balance of the four nations, or if you need to know how to change a diaper. I am with you regardless.”

Kyoshi sniffed again, and pulled Yangchen into another hug.

“I miss him so much,” she whispered.

“I know, Kyoshi. I know. He’d be so proud of you.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’m proud of you, Kyoshi. You’re doing your best. You will do fine.”

Kyoshi and Yangchen sat like that for a little bit. Kyoshi didn’t start crying again, but she sniffed every now and then.

Finally, Kyoshi sat up. She took a deep breath, composing herself.

Yangchen smiled at her. “If I may ask, what did you name her?”

“Um, we found a door with her name on it that led to a room with a crib. Her name is ‘Koko.’”

Yangchen’s smile widened. “A lovely name.”

Kyoshi nodded. Her sad, green eyes looked once again at Yangchen.

“Do you really think I can do this?”

“I know you can,” Yangchen responded.

With that, it was time for Yangchen to depart. Kyoshi’s spirit faded from in front of her, and once again Yangchen was alone in her little corner of the Spirit World.

Yangchen sighed and began preparing herself some tea. She knew Kyoshi would do wonderfully. She just hoped that Kyoshi would trust in that herself.

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by the scene at the end of _The Shadow of Kyoshi_ where Yangchen holds Kyoshi and lets her cry. It was such a tender, comforting scene, and it made me immediately love momma Yangchen. I wanted some more of Kyoshi being vulnerable, and Yangchen letting her be vulnerable, and this is the result. Kyoshi needs so many hugs!
> 
> I tried not to fall into the trap of "Kyoshi is a heartless killer" that we love to joke about, because if you read the Kyoshi novels, she's actually such a dork with a heart of gold. Still, I imagine that she would be enraged at the callousness of the warlord, leaving a baby to starve in the arms of her dead parents, that she would take him out, no questions asked. I think that's a very understandable reaction from the point of view of most people. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this! Comments are appreciated! :)


End file.
